Zoom LiveTrak L-12 Mixer/Recorder for Musicians & Podcasters

This is a great music tool for a musician. You can use it so many different situations, and it does a good job in all of them. Here are some examples of how it can be used, and how it performs in those situations both good and bad. Practice: You can plug in a number of different devices to pull material from to work on. I use it to rehearse to songs playing from spotify on my computer connected VIA USB. I can adjust the volume of both the source music and my practice so I can easily isolate problem spots. You can also set aside trouble spots to share with your teacher when you run into problems. It has a built in metronome so you can practice in time, and see how your timing is while you work on different passages. Rehearsal: This thing really rules in a low volume rehearsal situation where everyone wants to use headphone. It has 5 independent aux sends to 1/4" headphone jacks. This gives everyone the ability to hear exactly what they want to. It has built in effects so the singer can have a little bit of reverb on their vocals. All that, and you can record your rehearsal to an SD card both as individual tracks and as a summed mix. The recording feature is super simple. Just select the tracks you would like to record, arm, and record. Throw a large SD card in the unit, and you will be set for weeks of rehearsal. It's also easy to listen to what you just recorded and sort out what happened as a group in different parts of a song. Writing: I will often get an idea in my head. With this it's as simple as come in, turn it on, start recording the idea. I can go back and add tracks from other instruments after I get the basic idea down, and I can even do these to a click. you could use it to stand alone record, but it's editing features are great, so you just drop the files into your computer and work within your favorite DAW. With the built in metronome you don't have to worry about having your computer turned on to be able to track some stuff and be able to drop it right into the computer in time later. Recording: With a built in recorder, and the ability to plug directly into your computer with 12 inputs and one sum, It provides great tools to work with. I play drums, and use an electronic kit to record. I can plug in the individual sends from my drum brain right into the unit and trick like I was at the studio. Super hack record your whole recording session directly on the device as a safety in case there are any issues with the computer recording, or a perfect solo that you didn't hit record for. Zero latency monitoring is great too. Live: I think it is probably more of a sub mixer, but it can do a whole show if you don't have too many instruments. If everyone is using in ear monitors it gives them up to 5 different mixes for that. it has XLR as well as balanced 1/4" outputs for speakers. You can record the whole show and come back and mix it later at home, or directly on the mixer. It has decent live effects and compression to make your show sound great coming out of your main speakers. Rehearsals: I had to go back and add this after my initial review. I feel like this is another area where this really shines. With the pandemic in full swing playing music with other people can be very difficult while trying to maintain social distancing. I have two rehearsal situations currently that I'm using this for. The first is a group where we are all in separate rooms and communicate via microphones. At my station I have my L-12 and mic up my drums with it. I send a stereo mix of the drums to another L-12 in the house via two XLR cables. I get a headphone signal from the other L-12 with a mix of all the other instruments. I can sum that, my drums, and a click in my L-12 and hear and record everything that happens while controlling my drum mix to the board. The second group rehearses outside with me in a garage. In this situation I mic all the other instruments directly and use 4 mics on the drums. This allows me to hear everything that's happening outside the garage, and record all the songs we play. I setup a template inside of Logic Pro X so when I get home I can copy the stems from the SD card and drag and drop them into logic with no real need to mix them since the levels and effects are already set. This results in great recording for all members of the band to review when we get home. Trouble spots: There aren't many trouble spots on this unit, and I'm still giving it the highest rating due the fact that for its issues it still does way more than just about anything at its price point. 1) The compression always writes to the recording and it's not a great compressor. 2) The Preamps aren't great, but they're usualable 3) The file naming system is okay, but pretty close to impossible to change. (Changing a long file name with a click wheel is not how I want to spend 5 minutes on every recording) 4) The faders aren't motorized (you have to set the faders whenever you switch mixes) 5) No individual stereo or mono pairs for monitor out in live situation This is a tool I can definitely get behind. At this or any price point there isn't much else on the market with all of these types of capabilities in a reasonably sized package. I have, and will continue to recommend this to my friends and peers.

The main reason I purchased this system is to use it as a backup mixer for live sound events (I run all my channels into a splitter; one set goes to my primary mixer, the other set goes to the Zoom). The device also gives me the ability to multi-track record the events, so this item works perfect for my situation. Here's a host of pros/cons that I've experienced thus far, but overall I'm very happy with the purchase. Amazon shipped the item in an unsealed factory box! It arrived in great condition, but I expected a little more care with the packing/shipping of the item, so that was unusual. The item is lightweight with plastic housing, but it feels like it will hold up (with the proper care). The buttons/faders/knobs do not provide exceptional resistance, but they don't feel super-cheap either. The size of the knobs are also adequate (see photo - notice I put custom labels on my device). The power adapter has a 7' cable - it does seem cheap, but it kinda' "locks" into the L12, which is a cool feature. Relatively speaking, the mixer/recorder is very easy to operate. I purchased a "SanDisk Class 10 - U1 - 128GB SDXC 80MB/s" SD card, which seems to function well, but I haven't tested it to its limits. The pre-amps and built-in effects sound great. It must be noted that with the new firmware update (v.2.0) Zoom has given users access to effects on all the outputs, but there are limits. The effect you choose is "global" so you can only use one effect at a time for the entire system. For example if you want reverb on channel 1 and delay on channel 2, that is NOT an option. If you want to route reverb to the master output, then you can adjust the send efx level for the reverb on each individual channel, but that setting is carried over to all the outputs (ex. A, B, C, D, E). You can control the OVERALL efx return level for each output, but not for each individual track. If you intend to use the recorder for a project where you want to do overdubs and re-takes, then there are some limitations. The device doesn’t have “virtual” tracks (you can’t save tracks in the background) and you can’t “bounce” tracks from one channel to another. My workaround is to keep a computer connected to the L12, and if I want to bounce a track, I restart the device in “Card Reader” mode. Then I access the card with my computer and rename the file to the track I want to “bounce” it to (they are named something logical like “TRACK1, TRACK2” etc.). I can backup tracks by copying them to my computer using the same method, so that’s my workaround for keeping “virtual tracks”. Even with the limitations listed above, this mixer/recorder is great! Setting up my system and recording tracks is a quick process that is very intuitive. I’m very happy with my purchase and I would recommend it for anyone who wants to fulfill similar needs as me.

Excelent product! Very versatile. Only two drawbacks. 1. The effects settings apply to all channels. You cannot apply different effects to different channels. 2. There is no effects send-return on it. But besides that two downsides, it is a portable mixing and recording studio with the right features for live gig and home recording. Big plus: 1. The 5 separate mixes outputs, that I been using for monitoring to in-ear and monitor speakers. 2. Saving all different presets for mixing and recording. Called scenes. Let's me have a preconfigured for full band, acoustic and track based gigs. 3. Small makes it easy to transport and sturdy plastic. No metal in case you have a rough on the road music presentations you may need something tougher. 4. Fully digital, this improved a lot the feedback resilience, and most of band members praise no feedbacks at all in my work on live gigs. 5. From all the effects and settings only compression affects recording. What you record is what comes to the preamp. The recording is saved to SD card. Our you may record with a DAW via interface (or both). Note that max quality up to 96 Khz mono only. 44 and 48 kHz are stereo on stereo channels I heard some pro grade recordings made with this device so do not underestimate what can be done with it. I am a newbie sound engineer who in daytime is a systems administrator. I needed something that have quick good results and low learning curve. Approaching from my digital side, now learning more may go for a bigger analog one where I may need to struggle more with feedback and granular configs. So far so good!

This board was everything we expected. Quality, sound, effects, the size, and how somple the input is.

This is the best multitrack recorder I've used at anywhere near this price point. I have a number of eurorack cases, and the large number of inputs makes it easy to take output from a variety of key points in the system and handle them each separately. There's definitely a learning curve, and I wish it had a built-in effects loop, but there are workarounds to the latter, and the former comes with time (and RTFM). I've had mixed experiences with mixers around this size, so it was in and out of my cart more times than I can count, but I'm definitely glad I pulled the trigger.

Zoom is the BEST ever. Very easy to transport, crisp clear sound every time! Easy setup, easy tear down. I love how easy this is to use!

I purchased mine on June-8-2020. Six years later it is still going strong, no problems, no issues, nothing negative at all. I won't go into the recorders details, as there are plenty of reviews that brake it all down, and you can also visit Zooms' website for all the details. I'm just a extremely satisfied owner of this product and want to let everyone know that this thing has been flawless, period. And I have put hundreds of hours using this thing. I run it daily, and not just to record. I have my studio drum-set mic'ed up and connected to it, so daily practice, all rehearsals, recordings, everything - I run through this recorder. Like I said hundreds and hundreds of hours this Zoom recorder has been running and I have NEVER had 1 single issue with it. There's been several times I've burned the midnight oil till the late, late hours into the night (3am, 4am) was so tired I forgot to turn it off, but even with all those hours of use: never a hick-up. I really though the power adapter would have burned up by now, but as I said, no issues! If it ever dies, I'm getting another one. For me and my needs - it's that good! I love it.

The mixer was delivered with a couple of cosmetic issues. There is a small crack in the outside and it sounds like there is a small piece of plastic loose inside the mixer. The TRS/TS part of the combo jacks are kind of loose, so I am not sure it is working correctly. I'm returning it. It's the first time this happens to me and I hope it never happens again.

Lo recomendable es que por lo menos sepas usar una mezcladora analógica sencilla, porque esta incluye funciones que probablemente a alguien que inicia de cero, les cueste un poco entender. Una vez que comprendes el hecho de seleccionar el canal para hacer los ajustes, el uso se vuelve bastante siemple y parecido a cualquier mezcladora básica. Su tamaño no es precisamente compacto, así que se complica su transporte o uso en exteriores, pero es una opción ideal para instalaciones fijas o semi fijas.

I was looking for a product to record audio on board for kids' practice sessions and also an audio interface to record into computer and my research pointed to L12. It is highly portable, light and right sized(only slightly bigger than a laptop base ) . It is very easy to set up and start jamming and record but has lot of features which I am still exploring. The only thing I wish it had was an ability to loop guitar or piano .It has an overdub facility but that's not same as looping. But I am not sure that is too much to ask. Also I did not see any DAW bundled.

Surpassed my expectations in every way! It's so light and compact and easily transportable to gigs. The pre-amps sound amazing, quiet and clean. Works perfectly in Logic Pro X after installing the driver for it. The on-board effects and compression sound great, as well as the versatile EQ. 5 custom headphone mixes is another fantastic feature. The only thing I can possibly criticize is the fact (I think) that you can only use one chosen global effect for all channels rather than selecting a channel and applying a different type of reverb for each. (But in reality it would maintain a cohesive mix if all the EFX sends sound like the same verb type, It would just be nice to choose to add delay on one track and still have reverb on the others.)

I’m using the Zoom LiveTrak L-12 for recording live looping performances and often record upto 8 track simulataneously. Overall it’s a very solid and capable mixer/recorder. Pros: 1. Excellent mixer overall with good-sounding preamps. 2. Very flexible routing options. I was able to set up a proper send/return effects loop using Line Out A and return it to a channel, which worked really well. 3. Very few products in this category offer both mixing and multitrack recording in one unit. 4. The bus system is excellent — you can create different mixes for each headphone output, and it can also be repurposed creatively for sends/returns. Cons: 1. The single digital channel strip knob is a bit fiddly. It’s less tactile than mixers like the Tascam Model 12, which has dedicated knobs for more functions. 2. Build quality feels a bit plasticky. 3. No dedicated send/return or aux knobs. 4. Only one onboard effect can be used at a time, and that single effect is shared across all channels. Overall, a very capable and flexible unit if you value routing options, good sound quality (which is the point of such a unit) and built-in recording.

Very nice unit! Havn’t had a lot of time using it yet.... but it is layed out very logically and provides a superior interface! The sound tweaks that can be made are awesome! the system can remember up to 9 preset faders positions, effects, and EQ bery handy. Sound Quality is excellent. ZERO hum or noise... very clear. I use Bose audio speakers to monitor.